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MCAD News

To celebrate and acknowledge their 30th anniversary, the Women’s Art Resources of Minnesota Mentor program held a special exhibition of works by Judith Roode, former MCAD faculty member. Gifted and Guided, the Warm Mentor Program Exhibition was on view from October 6 to November 10 at the Grain Belt Bottling House. Roode also spoke at the event.

Jerry Allan and the entrepreneurial studies department hosted visiting speaker and global citizen Isatou Ceesay on October 27, in part as a fundraiser for the organizations Ceesay has worked with in her efforts to empower African women. Ceesay works to help women in Gambia gain economic empowerment and began the Women’s Recycling Project in Njau, Gambia. In 2012, Ceesay was named the winner of the International Alliance for Women World of Difference 100 award.

Restaurateur and MCAD board member Andrew Dayton and head chef of the Bachelor Farmer, Paul Berglund, invited Karen Wirth, Vice President of Academic Affairs, to give a presentation on design and composition to the kitchen staff of the restaurant. The presentation on October 23, 2012 was included in the programming for a semiannual staff development day. The talk centered on attributes of Scandinavian design, compositional principles and their application to food presentation or plating.

Nicole Killian (Visiting Faculty, Graphic Design) has just completed a piece in collaboration with visual artist Charlie White for his Music for Sleeping Children pop album. This project combines White’s and Killian’s work with pop culture ephemera, creating a tension of critique.

Photos & Drawings, a short film by Jon Maichel Thomas ‘00 is now available on DVD. The limited special edition DVD includes special bonus features consisting of Joel’s Photos by Kent Anderson, Helena’s Drawings by Alyssa Thomas and Cryssa Otto, behind the scenes photos of the production, and the soundtrack of the film. The DVD can be purchased on Jon Maichel Thomas’ website.

Exactitude, an exhibition by Pamela Valfer (Adjunct, Fine Arts) and Christina Empedocles was reviewed in Artforum International Magazine in the Critics’ Picks section. The exhibition was held at the Burnet Gallery in Minneapolis through November 11.

Lyz Wendland MFA '09 participated in a faculty exhibition at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls which opened on October 26 at the Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson, Wisconsin. Additionally, Wendland submitted twenty-five pieces for sale in the annual MCAD Art Sale, which took place November 15 - 17.

Carbon Collaborative, a Minneapolis based design studio involving Meredith Stuart '06, designed Landscape Structures' booth for the annual American Society of Landscape Architects EXPO held in Phoenix, AZ. The design referenced the arid southwest geology. Soaring blades of bright green grass burst from the ground, pulling the attendees toward the featured playground. The booth was awarded best in show for the second year in a row.

Mouthbreather, an exhibition by Katelyn Farstad ’10, will be open at Midway Contemporary Art from November 3 to February 2. The gallery and its library are free and open to the public, Wednesday–Saturday, 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

A piece by Nicole Killian, visiting faculty, titled Search Me, is now live. The piece, now on tightartists.com, is a part of the show Human Resolution / PAMI at ArcadiaMissa for the Peckham Moving Image Festival in London. The show is also listed on netart.net, a directory of contemporary net art around the world.

Shawn McCann ’02 was awarded an Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. He was one of only eighty-eight recipients nationwide. With the grant, McCann will be producing a few large scale murals in his hometown of Wahpeton, North Dakota.

Dr. Kris Belden-Adams, liberal arts professor, has contributed about a dozen essays to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's book Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop. The book was released on October 11.

Nicole Killian, visiting faculty, wrote a comparative work on Carly Rae Jepsen’s new album, Kiss, and Nirvana’s Nevermind for Wow Huh. Wow Huh is an online art quarterly that has featured critics Lane Relyea and Christopher K. Ho.

An interview with Erik Brandt, design professor, was featured in the UK magazine Counter-Print. The interview discussed Brandt’s “human-rebranding” project. Counter-Print approached Brandt over the summer after discovering his collection of hand-painted truck logos on Flickr, and the magazine requested an interview as well as permission to use his photos.

Michael Mott ’08 opened an exhibition of his work titled When the Sick Set Sail, the Sea Sets Them Free at the Seltzer Art Space on September 21. It was the first exhibition of the 2012 One Nighter Series. The exhibition also featured the release party of Wopozi issue #2.

Jody Williams, fine arts professor, has an exhibition at the Form + Content Gallery titled Starting from Nothing, which runs through October 13. Williams’s work is a collection of artist’s books, prints, and collages.